USFWS · North Carolina

Currituck National Wildlife Refuge

Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, located on the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks, was established in 1984 to preserve and protect the coastal barrier island ecosystem. Refuge lands are managed to provide wintering habitat for waterfowl and to protect endangered species such as piping plover, sea turtles, and seabeach amaranth.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge7,985 acresUSFWSNC
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Currituck National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, licensed CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateNorth Carolina
Size7,985 acres
FWS regionRegion 4
Center point36.47° N, 75.88° W
Night skyAbout as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 10)

Boundary map

6 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Currituck National Wildlife Refuge40°50°60°70°80°90°January: 3.35 inches of precipitationFebruary: 2.71 inches of precipitationMarch: 3.76 inches of precipitationApril: 3.47 inches of precipitationMay: 4.21 inches of precipitationJune: 4.56 inches of precipitationJuly: 5.51 inches of precipitationAugust: 5.83 inches of precipitationSeptember: 4.49 inches of precipitationOctober: 4.07 inches of precipitationNovember: 3.37 inches of precipitationDecember: 3.29 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 43.9°F averageFebruary: 46.2°F averageMarch: 52.1°F averageApril: 61.7°F averageMay: 70.2°F averageJune: 78.1°F averageJuly: 82.6°F averageAugust: 80.0°F averageSeptember: 74.8°F averageOctober: 64.8°F averageNovember: 54.6°F averageDecember: 47.3°F average0 in2 in4 in6 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Fentress Naas, 21 miles from the center point at 16 feet, station USW00013762 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 49 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Park System units within 30 miles · Park Atlas
Part of Colonial National Historical Park · 27 mi
Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park
National Memorial · 28 mi
Wright Brothers National Memorial
National Register listings within 15 miles · 11 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for North Carolina

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • North Carolina Birding Trail
    2011
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking Waterfalls North Carolina
    Melissa Watson, 2025
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Great Day Hikes on North Carolina's Mountains-To-Sea Trail
    Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and Jim Grode, 2020
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Currituck National Wildlife Refuge?

7,985 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Currituck National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Currituck National Wildlife Refuge in?

North Carolina.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Currituck National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 36.471° N, 75.880° W. Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park is 27 miles away. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Which national parks are near Currituck National Wildlife Refuge?

Cape Henry Memorial Part of Colonial National Historical Park (27 mi) and Wright Brothers National Memorial (28 mi). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.

Source: Nearby on the other atlases

Are there historic places near Currituck National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 11 listings within 15 miles, including Currituck Beach Lighthouse and Coinjock Colored School.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q5195177), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Currituck National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.